Monday, April 17, 2017

[BOOK REVIEW] Eden's Demise

EDEN'S DEMISE

Angelique Anderson

Under witness protection, Adam and Evelyn have just returned from their honeymoon. Evelyn isn't entirely convinced they are safe from Lars Morello.

Once Lars escapes from jail, things take a turn for the worse in an underground place called the 'Arena' where Androids are forced to work for Lars and his assistant.

The Serum has been rejuvenated, and rather than provide immortality, Lars has something worse in mind. Something that will turn humanity into a weapon.

The question is, how many people will have to die before it is perfected?

I had the fortune of joining a mini-review group, and got the chance to read this novel! It acts as a standalone, so I didn't need to read the first novel in advance, which I'm grateful for.

For my review, I broke this story down into three separate categories: the good, the bad, and the ‘meh’ as a whole. This does not pertain to any sequels, prequels or midquels (if applicable).

Let the games begin!

THE GOOD

I'm going to say this first: I'm not the biggest fan of the sci-fi genre as far as reading goes. So picking this up alone was my own personal challenge. But I went into this story completely open-minded, because, hey, sometimes I get surprised. And I'll say now, I'm not disappointed in the least with reading this one over.

Lars and Levi. I admit, these two were a little on the fence for me at first as characters, acting as the general frenemies of their field. They were close, yet they kept knives at each others' throats. But their relationship became rather dynamic to comprehend as I continued reading until it reached an end.

The experiments. I was rather intrigued by the concept of the Serum when I first learned of it. It seemed to act as a mixture of a fountain of youth concept mixed with the concept of the Apple of Eden (and yes, Adam and Evelyn/Eve gave me that idea way in advance) being used as a means of control and virtuosity. The further that the concept went with it, the more that I found myself drawn to what the Serum's purpose really lied in.

THE BAD

I think my biggest issue going into the story was probably the slew of formatting issues. Sometimes the passages were organized in strange ways, and would even change spacing limitations. But that could also just be the way that it is on my Kindle. So, pass/fail here, I'll leave that one in the air.

Some of the punctuation was a bit off. It wasn't completely distracting to the book, but it was still noticeable.

I wasn't completely engrossed in the story until around chapter five when the concept of the Serum was truly introduced. After that, I found myself reading more thoroughly.

I feel like I need to read book one to understand more about Adam and Evelyn. Just because I see them appear a few times throughout the story, on their honeymoon while also being watched by witness protection. I just feel that for a standalone novel, there could be a bit of insight as to how they ended up this way without having to jump into book one.

THE MEH

Levi's actions towards wanting to off everyone that gets involved in his plight. They felt a little... lackluster to consider, but I can also understand the reasons why. He wants his actions kept under wraps, and that's just business.

THINGS I NEED TO KNOW/FINAL THOUGHTS

I think I'm all good here! There wasn't much that I really thought seemed out of place for my thoughts on the process.

OVERALL

I give this book a solid 4/5 stars! I was surprised that I grew to like a sci-fi story at all!